


a very distinctive salarian

by littleleotas



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Leverage AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-16 21:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8117596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleleotas/pseuds/littleleotas
Summary: It's a Mass Effect Leverage AU and Garrus, Tali, and Shepard are taking on an old enemy in a different way. Age of the quarian machinist, baby.





	

Garrus and Tali groaned as the Mako hit the ground – hard – _again_.

“Shepard,” Garrus said, rubbing his neck, “Why don't you let me drive-”

“Never. Come on, my driving's not that bad!”

“Most people go _around_ mountain ranges, babe.”

“Whiny babies.”

“I didn't say anything,” protested Tali.

“You were thinking whiny thoughts.”

“We've got company,” said Garrus, nodding ahead at the mercenaries firing on them from the bunker.

Shepard wheeled the Mako sharply to the side and turned the gun on the mercs. The Mako's shields absorbed some gunfire and Shepard wheeled the Mako around the bunker, firing rapidly.

“Shepard-” Tali started cautiously.

Shepard glared at the snipers in the towers.

“Shepard-” Garrus looked at her with concern.

Shepard grinned.

The towers blew out from the bottom, courtesy of the Mako's cannon. Shepard turned, still grinning, at Garrus and Tali. Tali just shook her head.

“Nice,” offered Garrus.

“Don't encourage her,” said Tali, hitting Garrus's shoulder.

They hopped down out of the Mako. Tali looked at the damage on the side. “Looks like you'll have some work to do when we get back to the ship, Garrus.”

“It's not too bad,” Garrus said, glancing at it. “But one thing at a time, Tali.”

“Right.”

Shepard and Garrus drew their guns and ran behind Tali up to the bunker door. Tali fiddled with the computer trying to override the door lock.

“ _Access denied._ ”

Tali hit the side of the screen. “Bosh'tet.”

“Tali-”

“I've almost got it, Shepard, just-”

“ _Access granted._ ”

“Good job, Tali,” Shepard whispered as she and Garrus passed through the door first. Tali pulled up her omnitool and prepared a drone command.

Shepard and Garrus positioned themselves on either side of the next door. They looked at each other and nodded, and Shepard punched the button to open the door.

Garrus fired on the first few mercs they could see. Shepard threw a singularity at a cluster of them as she slid into cover.

Tali sent her drone around the corner, staying hidden herself. Shepard slid around a few crates positioned close to the wall, firing a warp and then ducking back into cover when she could.

Garrus looked up and saw snipers upstairs. He turned to head up and was met with a charging krogan. He rolled out of the way, and Tali's drone took a few shots before Garrus pulled his shotgun off his back and finished the job.

“Garrus,” Shepard hissed into the comm. “The snipers are on me, I'm at the door.”

Garrus scrambled to his feet and ran up to the balcony. He pulled up his omnitool and sabotaged one of the snipers' guns, shooting the other in the head.

“Holy sh-”

Garrus snapped the other sniper's neck before he could finish his sentence.

“All clear,” he said.

“Tali,” said Shepard.

Tali headed to the door Shepard where Shepard was waiting and hacked the lock. “All yours.”

Shepard slipped past her and bypassed the security on the safe. The safe opened and inside was a key card.

Shepard tilted her head. “Huh.”

“Got it?” asked Garrus over the comm.

“Yeah. I think.” She pocketed it and met Garrus and Tali outside the room. “You said there was another building on the map?”

Tali nodded. “Just a blip, I think they're trying to block comms.”

Shepard held up the key card. “I think we should check it out.”

After another whirlwind ride in the Mako, they pulled up to a smaller bunker halfway across the planet. The guards stationed at the bunker's door began firing and Shepard quickly dispatched them with the cannon.

“You're enjoying that too much,” said Tali as they got out of the Mako.

Shepard grinned and ran over to the bunker door. She swiped the key card and the door opened. Inside two more guards immediately turned on them.

“Hey!” one yelled.

“Oop,” Shepard said as she rolled out of the way. Garrus pushed forward and punched one of them, immediately elbowing the other in the face. As the guards stumbled and recovered, Garrus pulled out a pistol and shot them.

Shepard and Tali poked their heads around the doorway.

“Clear,” breathed Garrus.

“The records should be in here somewhere,” said Tali as they approached the second door.

“Yeah,” said Shepard, drawing a pistol. “Weird that they wouldn't just...be in the office, though.”

“Keep your guard up,” Garrus said in a low voice, switching to his shotgun.

Shepard opened the door and gasped.

Garrus looked in and lowered his gun, feeling his heart drop to his stomach.

Three asari, two humans, and a turian were sitting, hands and feet bound, in the middle of the room behind a forcefield. Tali immediately approached the terminal and lowered the field.

Garrus put away his gun and ran over to the captives. Shepard followed him slowly, and they began unbinding the prisoners.

“Are you alright?” asked Garrus as he loosed the ties on one of the asari. They nodded, offering no more information.

Shepard asked the humans, “Is one of you Catherine?”

“I am,” whispered the freckled brunette.

“Your mom sent us to look for you,” Garrus said, keeping his voice low, not quite matching the girl's whisper. “We're gonna get you home.”

She looked up at Garrus with no small amount of fear in her eyes. She turned to Shepard, who attempted a reassuring smile.

“I can't get anything from this terminal,” said Tali, “But there should be something further inside.”

“Okay,” said Shepard. “Garrus, can you stay here with them?”

Garrus nodded.

Tali and Shepard headed to the door at the back of the room. Catherine looked after Shepard and took a deep, ragged breath.

“They'll be right back,” said Garrus, trying to be soothing.

Catherine wouldn't look at him.

Shepard opened the door and she and Tali snuck along the hallway. They stopped, listening for a moment, but heard nothing and kept moving.

They went through the door to the left and saw a terminal at the end of the room. Tali headed for it, and Shepard began searching the room.

“Looks like we got here just in time,” said Tali. “They've already made the sale, the buyer's coming today.”

“Can you take those records?”

Tali typed for a second. “Uploaded to the Normandy.”

“Alright, let's get them out of here.”

As they re-entered the hallway, they heard grunts from the other room. They looked at each other and ran in to find Garrus standing over two more batarian guards.

“Reinforcements,” he said, catching his breath.

“Are you alright?” said Shepard, running over to him and gently touching his arm.

He nodded.

She looked at the captives. “We've gotta get them out of here.”

“Make it quick,” he said as he pulled two of them up.

They gathered the group together. Garrus took the lead with Shepard and Tali at the back behind the captives.

“Joker,” Shepard said through the comm. “Pick-up on our location, ASAP.”

“Roger,” Joker responded.

They waited outside the bunker for a moment or two before a ship came into view.

“That's...not the Normandy,” said Garrus.

“Go. Go go go go go,” Shepard waved at Tali, who took the captives back inside quickly. “Joker,” Shepard called again. “We've got a situation.”

“Working on it, Commander,” Joker said. “Couldn't get a fix on your location until about 30 seconds ago. And we've got-”

“-company.” Shepard finished.

Garrus pulled Shepard behind him and drew his gun. Two krogan exited the ship, carrying guns but not targeting.

“Heard there was a change in management,” one of the krogan said.

“You could say that,” said Garrus.

“We've been instructed not to leave without our cargo. Doesn't mean we'll be paying you, though. Steal the credits we already gave to the batarians, you should be able to do that if you got this far.”

Garrus chuckled.

“Something funny, turian?”

He shifted his weight onto a hip. “There's been more of a change in management than you thought.”

The krogan pointed their guns at Garrus and Shepard. “I told you, turian, we're not leaving without our cargo.”

“Then you're not leaving at all,” Garrus responded, drawing his own gun.

Shepard threw a warp at one and Garrus shot at the other. The krogan stumbled, and as they regained their composure Shepard made a break for the Mako as Garrus kept shooting, walking sideways in Shepard's direction.

“Shepard, what are you-”

“Get out of the way!”

Shepard climbed into the Mako and Garrus ran, muttering.

The krogan fired on Garrus as he ran into the bunker, and when the krogan turned their heads, it was too late.

Shepard shrieked with glee as she hit the krogan ship with the Mako's cannon. The Normandy landed next to the smoking ship.

“All aboard!” said Shepard gleefully as she hopped out of the Mako.

~-~-~

The prisoners sat together at the table in the mess hall on the Normandy, saying nothing. Shepard leaned against the counter as Garrus plated food and took it to the table.

“Didn't know you cooked. Especially levo,” said Shepard, when Garrus returned to make more plates.

He shrugged. “It's a hobby,” he said.

She stuck a spoon in the pot of chili and took a bite.

“Hey!” Garrus protested.

“That's really good,” said Shepard, mouth half-full of chili.

Garrus frowned for a moment. “Thanks.”

“Okay,” said Tali, walking up to them. “You want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Uh. Good?” said Shepard, as Garrus took the last two plates over to the table.

“Good news is I tracked the money back from the batarians' account and found out who the buyer was.”

“Bad news?” asked Garrus as he came back.

“It's Dr. Heart.”

Garrus's mandibles flared. “Saleon.”

“Oh,” said Shepard, touching her fingers to her lips. “He- oh.”

Garrus scowled. “He bought them for his sick experiments.”

Shepard put a hand on Garrus's back. “They're safe now.”

“I found the coordinates for his ship,” said Tali. “If we go now we might catch him.”

“Good,” said Garrus. “Let's go.”

~-~-~

Garrus and Shepard stepped on board Dr. Saleon's ship. “You alright, Tali?” whispered Shepard over the comm.

“No worries, Shepard. ETA 5 minutes. Make it quick.”

“We will,” said Shepard. She lowered her voice, turning to Garrus. “Okay?”

He nodded sharply.

“Garrus,” said Shepard with concern.

“It's fine. Let's just do this.”

They opened the door and what appeared to be zombies immediately charged them. Shepard threw a singularity into a cluster of them, stopping them in their tracks, as Garrus picked them off with a rifle.

“This is more than just cloning organs, Shepard!” Garrus yelled as he shot another attacking test subject.

Shepard didn't respond, bringing up her barrier as she threw the subjects back.

When the room was cleared, they headed to the door at the far end of the room. “Time, Tali?” Shepard whispered breathlessly.

“3 minutes, Shepard.”

“'Kay,” she breathed.

Garrus opened the door and they entered the hallway. Shepard pointed at a vent next to the door on the right and Garrus nodded. She slowly climbed into it and over the room.

“This door, Garrus, he's here,” she whispered, directly over Saleon.

Garrus punched the button to open the door.

“Thank you,” Saleon said, “For saving me from those things.”

“I'm not here to save you, Dr. Saleon.”

“What? My name is Heart, Dr. Heart. Those things attacked me, you have to get me out of here.”

Garrus stalked forward, his subvocals growling. “There's no escape this time, Doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time.”

“You're crazy.”

“You're sure it's him?” whispered Shepard.

“Positive,” growled Garrus.

“What?” asked Saleon.

Shepard dropped down from the vent, grabbing Saleon's hands and cuffing them behind his back.

“Let's finish this, Shepard.”

C-Sec officers entered the room behind Garrus, guns drawn.

Shepard flashed a badge. “Spectre authority. Take this guy in for me, will you?”

Garrus glared at Shepard and she raised her eyebrows.

“Garrus.”

He shook his head and shoved past the officers, heading back to the Normandy.

~-~-~

“Hey.”

Garrus looked out from underneath the Mako and saw Shepard and Tali. He sighed and pushed himself out from underneath the vehicle.

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Garrus, I've never seen you like that,” said Tali, quietly.

He sighed and stood up. “There aren't many people that really deserve to die. He was one of them.”

Tali shook her head. “No, what he deserves is a long prison sentence so he has the rest of his life to regret it. And that's what he's getting.”

Garrus folded his arms and looked off to the side.

“Hey,” said Shepard. “We did the right thing.”

“Yeah,” said Garrus, not sounding convinced. “Just wish it felt better.”

Shepard chewed her bottom lip for a moment. “Hey, come with me when we get to the Citadel.”

Garrus looked at her.

“It'll feel better. I promise.”

~-~-~

The rest of the captives were given to C-Sec's custody, and Tali was helping track down families to get them back to. Shepard and Garrus took their initial charge, Catherine, to meet her mother at a cafe.

Catherine gingerly reached up for Garrus's hand as they walked. He took it, and Shepard walked slightly behind them, smiling.

“Thank you for the chili,” said Catherine quietly, not looking at Garrus.

He looked down at her. “You're welcome,” he said.

They continued to the cafe, and the moment Catherine caught sight of her mom, she dropped Garrus's hand.

“Mommy!”

“Oh gods,” Catherine's mom knocked over her chair in her haste to get up. She hugged her daughter tightly, sobbing.

Shepard walked up next to Garrus. She crossed her arms and looked at him. “Better?”

Garrus looked at Catherine and her mom and nodded.

Catherine's mom looked up at them. “Oh,” she said, “Thank you so much.”

“It's our pleasure,” said Garrus.

Shepard linked her arm in his as they walked away.

~-~-~

They met up with Tali in the C-Sec courtyard.

“All set?” asked Shepard.

“Everyone's on transport home and Saleon's never leaving his jail cell,” said Tali cheerfully. She looked at Garrus. “Are you okay?”

He nodded.

Shepard pulled them both in to a hug, and their foreheads touched. Shepard hummed a little sigh to herself and Garrus's subvocals purred.

“Those pirates are still out there, though,” said Garrus.

“So we've got another job to do,” said Shepard.

“But for now,” said Tali, “I missed out on your chili, Garrus.”

“It was levo.”

“Hmm...I suppose you're right. Can't expect you to make good chili levo _and_ dextro.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm just saying, big guy, I won't believe it 'til I see it,” continued Tali.

“If you're trying to trick me into making you chili-”

“Honestly I'm offended you would accuse me of such manipulation.”

Shepard laughed and threw an arm over each of them as they headed back to the ship.


End file.
